*ISLAMABAD – Cooperation between Pakistan and China entered a new phase asbusiness-to-business interactions kicked off with an inaugural meeting ofthe CPEC business council on Friday.*
This will provide a platform for regular consultation between thegovernment and business community on matters related to private sectorinvestments and push forward industrial cooperation under CPEC.
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Khusro Bakhtyar andAdviser to PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood co-chaired the first meetingof the CPEC Business Council in Islamabad on Friday.
The planning minister said that the purpose behind establishing the forumis to create an interface between the government and business community andtake forward the industrial cooperation between Pakistan and China.
“We want to address the trade imbalance, broaden market access foragricultural products and encourage B2B cooperation between the twocountries,” he said.
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Khusro said that the scope of CPEC has been expanded with a focus onindustrial and agriculture cooperation, socio-economic development, tradeand market access.
He expressed optimism on the creation of the CPEC Business Council sayingthat representation from the private sector will accelerate the pace ofindustrialisation under the umbrella of a mega project.
The minister said that the focus is to boost Pakistan’s industrial capacitythrough joint ventures in priority areas, relocation of labour-intensiveexport led industry, SME’s collaboration and enhancement of vocationaltraining capacity.
